Single:
An edited single version of Layla entered the Australian singles chart* on 28 August 1972 and only peaked at #100. Fans were more interested in the longer album version
Album:
The song is on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs which entered the Australian albums chart* on 7 June 1971 and peaked at #33.
Songwriters:
Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon
Producers:
Tom Dowd, Derek and the Dominos
Record label of Australian release:
Polydor
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Wikipedia:
The band released only one studio album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, produced by Tom Dowd, which also featured extensive contributions on lead and slide guitar from Duane Allman. A double album, Layla did not immediately enjoy strong sales or receive widespread radio airplay, but went on to earn critical acclaim. Although released in 1970 it was not until March 1972 that the album’s single Layla (a tale of unrequited love inspired by Clapton’s infatuation with his friend George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd) made the top 10 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The album is often considered to be the defining achievement of Clapton’s career.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_and_the_Dominos
Songfacts:
Derek and the Dominos formed after Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon worked on George Harrison’s first post-Beatles album, All Things Must Pass. They got together at Clapton’s house in England and started writing songs and playing together.
At the end of Layla, Dwayne Allman produced the “crying bird” sound with his guitar while Clapton played acoustic. It was a tribute to Charlie Parker, a jazz legend known as “bird.”
Jim Gordon’s then-girlfriend Rita Coolidge claimed in her memoir Delta Lady, that she wrote the song’s piano coda.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/derek-the-dominos/layla
Lyrics:
What’ll you do when you get lonely
But nobody’s waiting by your side?
You’ve been running and hiding much too long
You know it’s just your foolish pride
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
Find more songs to enjoy: Bang a Gong song finder
New to Bang a Gong? Click HERE to learn more about us.